Befriending Scorpius Malfoy
by hpismypastpresentandfuture
Summary: It's James's 3rd year at Hogwarts and Albus has just started school. James is shocked when Scorpius Malfoy becomes a Gryffindor and becomes friends with Albus and Rose. What will be the reaction of the Potters, Weasleys and Malfoys? And what will James do to help his friends?
1. info

Hey guys this is my first story! I would really appreciate it if you could read and review it, it'll help a lot, because I have no idea if I should continue with this story or not. The first 5 chapters are up! Thank you and Enjoy!


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N Everything to do with Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling. The plot is my own imagination**

Chapter one: All aboard the Hogwarts Express!

As the train left Kings Cross James gave one last kick to his brother and ran off to join his friends. He peered in the compartments, not exactly paying attention to where he was walking in the hallway.

"Watch where you're going Potter!" sneered a boy as James almost bumped in to him. And as James looked up at the boys face his expression hardened.

"I'm soo sorry Smith " James replied sarcastically.

Both boys had loathed each other the second they had set eyes on each other. It was similar to the rivalries of his father with Draco Malfoy or HIS father with professor Snape. But there were a few differences from the stories James's father had so often recounted. Damien Smith unlike Snape and Mr. Malfoy was a Huffelpuff, something James, though his dad had told him not to, often ridiculed. Damien was also a pampered, and extremely spoiled child (but he also had never been fond of Zacharias Smith or his son). James seemed to envy the fact that Damien's parent's eyes were set upon no one but him. Harry and Ginny Potter had 2 other children to look after and Harry had a special attraction to Albus. Albus... The one with Harry's mother's eyes... On the other hand Damien loathed that James was a Gryffindor, that he had so much talent both on and off the Qudditch field. He knew that James was popular and funny, that Mr. and Mrs. Potter were always there to talk about James's problems.

"Well I suppose that being in Gryffindor you're too busy trying to think of how to be heroic without actually watching where you're going." Damien said seriously

"At least I'm not a Huffelpuff that the sorting hat decided to put with the rest of the rejects," snapped James

Infuriated Damien pulled out his wand, as did James "Prefitus Totallus!" "Protego!"

At the moment James cast his protective charm, his cousin Victoire Weasley stuck her head out of her compartment, Head Girl pin stuck to her robes.

"What HAS been going on here?" she inquired disapprovingly.

"Nothing..."

"No dueling on the train! 10 points from Huffelpuff and Gryffindor!" she said tapping her badge.

"But..."

"Victoire!"

"No you guys know the rules... No dueling."

Catching sight of his friends in search for the food trolley, James stuck his tongue out at her and Damien and ran to join them.

"Hey James! " exclaimed Joanne giving him a hug.

"Hi!"

"Nice to see you mate" said Hermes grinning at him.

"Great to see you too!"

It was impossible to guess by their appearance that Jo and Hermes Longbottom were twins. Jo with her long hair pale and blond like her mother Luna's was the exact opposite of her brother's which was short and brown. While she was rather skinny and short Hermes was long and well built. It was only their personality that matched. Both siblings had an aptitude to cause accidents like their father especially in Potions class. But these accidents did not stop them from taking part in the many pranks that James so often caused. THEY at least had a sense of humor. But how both of them were able to live with the fact that their Herbology professor is their dad, James had no clue.

"So..."James started as he settled himself on their seat. "How was your guy's summer?"

"Not very eventful" it was Jo that replied "I stayed home with dad while..." she looked at Hermes

"While I went on search for Crumple Horned Snorkacks with mum" he continued rolling his eyes " mum's still convinced that they exist. Dad says he's given up on trying to make her see sense. And so I was stuck listening to her rants about random things like Windarks and Ganks for half a month..."

"Ganks?" James snorted

" Yeah it's not like we found any..." he said "how was your summer?" he added looking inquiringly at James.

"Well we went to Romania to visit my Uncle Charlie other than that nothing much..."

"Isn't your brother Albus starting school?" Jo asked

"Yeah he is. So is my cousin Rose."

At that moment the witch who sold candy from the trolley opened the compartment door.

"Anything from the trolley dears?"

"One Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans Box"

"Four droobles"

"10 chocolate frogs, please"

Once the beans and the droobles were eaten it was time to swap the chocolate cards.

"Hey James! I got your dad!" cried Jo.

"Yeah, I got my aunt Hermione" he replied.

"And I got your uncle Ron's" Hermes added.

10 years after James's father's defeat of Lord Voldemort with the help of aunt Hermione and uncle Ron, their names appeared on the chocolate frog cards. This legendary defeat caused much fame towards the Potters and the Weasley's. The teachers at Hogwarts therefore expected a lot from James Potter.

Suddenly James remembered something. " My mum told me to send your father her love," he said, "as if I'm going to walk into Herbology and give him LOVE"

Jo and Hermes chuckled. " Well don't worry I'm sure your mum will find a way to get the message across" Jo said.

Still laughing at the idea the three go up to get changed into their robes. Once changed the village of Hogsmead came into view when they heard the compartment door open.

"James?" said a timid voice. It was Albus. "You will keep your fingers crossed that I get put in Gryffindor" James looked into his brother's terrified eyes.

" Of course I will" Albus grinned. "As longs as the giant squid doesn't eat you," his smile faltered.

" You said it only ate fish and grindilows!"

"Yeah but who says it can't get hungry for human flesh?"

Giving James a reproachful he left the room as the train started to slow down. Still giggling the trio descended the train. "Good luck guys" they called to Albus and Rose.

"See you on the Gryffindor table" they replied while trying to catch up to the rest of the first years.

With one last well-aimed spell at Smith James, Joanne, and Hermes boarded the thestral drawn carriages along with their owls prepared for another year at Hogwarts.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling. **

Chapter two: welcome home

As Hogwarts came into view James felt a surge of happiness. He looked around and saw that his companions too were smiling. His memory wandered back to last year, when he saw Hogwarts for the first time. It truly was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. James's thought wandered to Albus who would be feeling affection for the castle at this precise moment. He then thought of Lily, his sister... She really was missing a lot, stuck at home. But she would be seeing Hogwarts next year, no matter. The carriages stopped, and all students and animals made their way towards the front gates.

As the trio sat down on the Gryffindor table, James scanned the head table. There was Hagrid, who gave him a wave, the size of two fully grown men. Professor Sinister from the astronomy department. A tabby old cat with spectacle marks around its eyes sitting on the headmistress's chair more stiffly than any cat he had ever seen. There was Professor Longbottom talking to a professor James did not know but he assumed it was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Professor Pantigua from transfiguration glaring at James's least favorite teacher Professor Tearheart the potions master.

"Look at the old hag" Hermes said looking at Tearheart "it seems like her and professor Pantigua had a row" glaring at her.

"What I don't understand is why McGonagall doesn't sack her," Jo said with disgust etched on every part of her face.

As James opened his mouth to reply, the doors to the great hall opened and the first years clambered in with looks of pure horror on their faces. Albus spotted James and gave him a weak smile that James returned reminding himself how terrified HE was the day of the sorting.

As the first years took their place in front of the head table, the tabby old cat turned into a rather severe looking woman. Professor McGonagall was the headmistress of Hogwarts and was also a very strict woman.

With a CLUNCK professor Longbottom set a stool in the middle of the hall and placed an ancient and worn out hat on it. Every eye in the hall was set upon the motionless hat, and suddenly it burst into song:

19 YEARS AGO WHEN THE MOST EVIL WIZARD OF ALL THREATENED HOGWARTS,

THE STUDENTS OF HOGWARTS WERE GIVEN THE OPTION TO FIGHT,

THE GRYFFINDORS SO BRAVE AND COURAGEOUS OF ALL,

FOUGHT WITH ALL THEIR MIGHT.

ALONGSIDE THEM STOOD HUFFELPUFF SO LOYAL AND TRUE,

NOT ONCE DID THEY WANT TO TURN BACK.

RAVENCLAW FOUGHT HARD TOO,

THE DEATHEATERS FOUND THEIR WIT TO BE A HUGE DRAWBACK.

ONLY SLYTHERIN WAS MISSING FROM THE FIGHT AGAINST THE DARK LORD,

THOUGH SOME DID STAY BEHIND TO DEFEND HOGWARTS,

MOST OF THEM FLED TO SAFETY.

SO IN THIS WAY DID THE FOUR HOUSE STAND AS ONE,

TO PROTECT HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY.

The hall broke in to applause. Ever since the battle at Hogwarts the sorting hat told them a new story each year something the new generation greatly enjoyed. "Not surprising that Slytherin ran out on them though!" James yelled over the noise. Jo and Hermes sniggered.

When the clapping died down, Professor Longbottom started calling out names. "Astrid, Daniel!" a trembling ginger climbed up the stairs, it seemed as though his legs would give in at any moment. He sat on the stool and the sorting hat fell past his ears. It considered him for a moment then it cried in a ringing voice " SLYTHERIN". An earsplitting applause sounded from the table on far left corner of the hall. James wondered what Daniel Astrid felt about this choice after hearing about Slytherin great treachery to Hogwarts.

Turning his attention back to the front, he heard the professor call "Cadmus, Leela!" and saw the first girl he ever saw eager to try on the sorting hat. She reminded him of his aunt Hermione who also was very fond of school. "RAVENCLAW" the Ravenclaw table erupted with cheers. On and on went the list until the name "Malfoy, Scorpius!" was called out. A boy, who looked like the clone of his father, sat on the chair proudly. 'So the little wart thinks he's gonna be put in Slytherin, does he?' James thought nastily. But a huge shock came to the whole hall when Scorpius MALFOY was put in GRYFFINDOR. There was scattered applause from the Gryffindor table that couldn't believe the fact that a MALFOY had not been put in Slytherin. The hall was still recovering from shock when Longbottom cleared his throat and continued with the names.

A while later when James started to feel hungry and Hermes's stomach started to rumble did Albus's name come. "Potter, Albus" James key his fingers crossed and saw that his companions were doing the same. Pale as chalk Albus climbed the stairs and placed the hat on his head, which fell down to his mouth. It took the hat a good 2 minutes to choose and James wondered what it was saying in there and throughout this time Albus had his eyes shut tight as though going through some internal struggle. Finally did the hat cry "GRYFFINDOR!" and the whole table roared it's approval James along with his friends and the Weasley's stood up and clapped the loudest. Albus Severus Potter clambered to the Gryffindor table looking immensely relieved as he sat down next to Scorpius.

The last name to be called was Rose's. The second the hat touched her flaming red Weasley hair it yelled "GRRYFINDOR!" and moved no more as she skipped to the table and settled herself next to Albus. As the hall settled down, McGonagall said in a carrying voice "Tuck in!" All of a sudden a heap of food appeared on every house table. After the dessert plates were lick clean and everyone started feeling lightheaded and sleepy did the headmistress get up to say a few words.

"It is reminded that the forbidden forest is restricted to all students. Mr. Filch has reminded me that all products from the store Weasley's Wizard Wheezes is banned as well as another list of 491 items." She looked down at James and gave a half smile. James looked at his friends and started to laugh silently. THEY certainly wouldn't follow THAT rule. "Qudditch tryout days will be posted on the house notice boards. And I remind you that first years ARE allowed to be part of the teams since 5 years ago. Now I see that none of you are listening to me any more" 'too true' muttered a sleepy Hermes. "... So I will finish by announcing the new DADA teacher, professor Treedom. Good luck Professor! Now up you all go where your warm beds are awaiting you as comfortable as they can be. Good night!"

And with a deafening scraping sound the hall began to empty. After giving Albus and Rose each a nudgie he left the great hall with Hermes and Jo, climbed up to his dormitory and into his bed feeling at home.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N : Harry Potter is J.K Rowlings creation. **

Chapter 3: the disinherit of Scorpius Malfoy

Two weeks into term James started to notice the friendship of his brother and his cousin with Scorpius Malfoy. They always sat together in the great hall, went to classes side by side, hung out in the Gryffindor common room, and Albus even shared a dormitory with him!

"I thought your family didn't like the Malfoys?" Hermes said. He caught James staring at them, Rose, Albus, and Scorpius doing their homework together.

James scowled as he bent over his transfiguration homework "We don't. Not really. And Rose's dad told them no to get to friendly with Malfoy, but..."

"You know I don't think he's too bad... your brother isn't an idiot. He knows who to trust and who not to. Albus must have found some good in him." Jo said thoughtfully.

"Maybe..."

"Look. If you ever see a problem with it then tell Albus!" she said." Do you see one?"

"No of course I don't see a problem!" he exclaimed sarcastically " But my parents are probably going to realize the situation. I told them Albus and Rose were friends with Scorpius. And tomorrow morning all three of us will get Howlers!"

"All three of you?"

"Yeah! Albus, Rose, and me!"

"But why you? It's not your problem"

"Well my mum will find a way to make it my problem! She's a female Weasley! A saber-tooth tiger ready to pounce!" he said quite loudly.

Jo and Hermes roared with laughter and James smirked a bit too. "What am I going to do?"

"Well you'll have to live with it mate..." Hermes explained " but think of poor Scorpius..."

When the two looked at him imploringly he continued, "I think his parents MIGHT have noticed that he's not in Slytherin... I guarantee a Howler for him."

"P-poor k-kid" James said while trying to stifle a yawn.

"C'mon it 10 past 12 we should be going to sleep!" Jo said looking quite tiered herself.

" Yeah I'll have to finish this tomorrow then." James said looking at his unfinished homework "Goodnight he called to the room and climbed up the stairs leading to the boys dormitory. After changing into his PJ's he climbed into bed and called goodnight to Hermes " see you in the morning!" "G'night!" the latter replied. James shut the hangings of his four-poster bed and lay down. He fell into an uneasy sleep about scorpions, and burning red envelopes.

The next morning in the great hall, James, Hermes, and Jo, were greeted by Scorpius, Albus, and Rose. "Hi" they called. "Hello" he and his friends chimed back.

They sat down next to Albus and his friends and as they ate their breakfast a swooshing sound filled the hall. The post had arrived. James and Albus spotted their family's snow-white owl Hedwig The Second; she landed right next to Albus's cereal bowl, and gave him his letter. Next she flew over and landed on James shoulder and gave him HIS letter. Rose got her letter from the tiny Weasley owl, Pig. But before any of them had the chance to open their letters a giant raven swooped down and dropped a red letter in front of Scorpius. His already pale face grew even paler as he pushed it away and it began to smoke.

"Open it Scorpius." Albus said looking frightened.

"It'll all be over soon," Rose added soothingly

James felt pity for the boy as he watched Scorpius open the letter with trembling hands. The letter exploded and everyone in the hall looked around for the source as Pansy Parkinson's screams echoed around the hall.

"WE HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE ASHAMED IN OUR LIFE! YOUR FATHER AND I CAN'T FACE THE FAMILY! WE WOULD HAVE NEVER EXPECTED THIS FROM YOU! OUR ONLY CHILD BREAKING THE FAMILY HONOR BY BEFRIENDING BLOOD TRAITORS AND POTTERS SON!" Scorpius sank in his chair and covered his face. "YOU CAN KISS COMING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS GOODBYE! YOU CAN SPEND IT WITH YOUR GRYFFINDOR FRIENDS! OR ANYWHERE ELSE! WE DON'T CARE!" and with that the letter ripped itself apart and the remains fell on the table. The hall remained silent and every eye was upon the boy who had received the letter. Slowly, Scorpius Malfoy rose from his chair and ran out of the hall, his face pouring with tears.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: All harry potter characters belong to j.k rowling**

Chapter 4: Acceptance

James had never felt so bad for anyone. As he saw Scorpius tear away from the scene, he wanted to yell at the Malfoys for treating their son this way. Rose and Albus exchanged a brief glance at each other and stormed after Scorpius.

"You know, James and Hermes, I think we should try and console him too…" Jo looked quite sad as she said it.

The other two agreed that they would open their own letters later because Scorpius's needs were obviously greater.

"I can't BELIEVE someone could do that to their son! Just because he's in Gryffindor!" she continued as they made their way up to the common room. "I mean who cares!"

As Jo said these words, invisible knives pierced James's heart. 'I shouldn't have been so prejudiced,' he thought 'the poor kid just needs some love. Maybe he's not so bad after all.' He never even noticed that they were already in front of the portrait of the fat lady. "Password?" she asked "griffin!" Hermes said hastily. They scrambled through the portrait hole and joined the threesome sitting together near the fire. The common room was empty, everyone had gone to eat, and they were free to talk as loud as they wanted.

"…. Won't care when you go back home," Rose said to Scorpius as she patted his shoulder. "It's just come as a shock. Give them some time."

"B-but t-they h-hate m-me! A-and t-they d-don't w-want m-me t-to b-be y-your f-friend!" he sobbed even louder "w-what's w-wrong w-with b-being i-in G-Gryffindor?"

"Slytherin and Gryffindor don't usually get along," James answered. Albus, Rose and Scorpius jumped. They had not noticed their arrival.

"Don't worry." Jo said "They'll have you back in no time!"

"But what about Christmas? You guys are all going home aren't you? I'll be all alone!" Scorpius stopped crying but still looked sad.

Everyone thought of a way to get around this problem and then suddenly Albus exclaimed, "You can come to our place!" he looked imploringly at his brother "Can't he James?" James looked into the pale grey eyes of Scorpius Malfoy; he saw hope forming in them. "Of course you can!"

Albus, Rose and Scorpius jumped and screamed in delight. " Yes you'll have sooooo much fun!" Rose squeaked, "Our family is HUGE!"

"Yeah and we have so much fun at Christmas! But Rose meant it when she said that we have a huge family..." Albus told him as they all calmed down.

"What do you guys do?" he asked curiously "we just sit around in the living room and watch our house elf put up the tree then we listen to grandpa mourn all those death eater friends we lost in the war..." he shook his head in disgust " I sometimes yell at him to stop because he never would have had to be friends with these people if he was on the good side! For that mum shuts me up in my room and I don't get to eat Christmas dinner..."

Rose gasped and James asked " Doesn't your dad punish you?"

" No he's always very confused about the war. And my words always make him more confused... I don't think he wanted to be on You-Know-Who's side but was forced by the people surrounding him. So he just stays quiet, and try's to work out his feelings... As for mum... You've heard what's she's like..." his face turned red " ...From the howler. She loves being a Slytherin and the death eaters are her heroes " he looks so furious now that James sees Hermes move a bit away from him. "I've always hated my family and I knew they didn't like me very much either. It hurts a bit to hear my mother say those things though. But I don't care anymore! I'm going to write back to them telling them I'm spending the holidays with you guys! And I hope that it infuriates them even further!" he finished looking rather fierce then hurt.

"Calm down Scorpius" Jo said " Before you do anything, we all should go and have breakfast" looking round at everyone.

"Sure."

"Ok"

"Wait" James said, "Albus, Rose and me still have to open our letters" he looked at Jo, Hermes and Scorpius " you guys go on ahead. We'll catch up!"

While the three of them left, the cousins opened their letters. James read normal things like how he was and how everything was going and his heart relaxed a little. 'I can tell them easily what I did then' he thought. But his body seized up as he read the last sentence. He went to the other two and saw that they were in the same state, frozen. They had the same words inked into their letters as well. It said:

"UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE SHOULD WE HEAR THAT YOU HAVE DEVELOPED A FRIENDSHIP WITH SCORPIUS MALFOY."

Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione were all enjoying a nice dinner together when three owls came zooming through the window.

"Harry aren't those Albus and James's owls?" Ginny remarked pointing at the two midnight owls.

"Yeah I think they are"

"And that ones Rose's." Ron said pointing at the barn owl. "I wonder what they all have to say at once?"

All four of them opened the letters and read. At each sentence their faces grew more and more suspicious. Hermione finished reading Roses letter and spoke first. "Well. Scorpius Malfoy. Coming here for Christmas?"

Ron was furious. "NO. I told Rose not to become his friend. After what Malfoy did to us we just let his kid come into our house? It won't happen."

Harry hadn't said a word. His childhood enemy, the bully who tried to make his life hell, the death eater's son, come to their house for Christmas? But there was something else, Scorpius's parents disinherited him, he felt so bad for the boy. He remembered how it felt staying at Hogwarts at times and thinking that he had no loving family. Well that was before the Wealseys did anyways.

"Stop Ron." He whispered. "The kids parents disinherited him. The poor kid has nowhere to go. We can give him a chance."

"And our kids aren't stupid. They know who to be friends with. And Rose speaks so highly of him." Hermione remarked

Ron scowled they had a point. Ginny looked at her husband and friend exasperated. "Fine he can come. But how do we know our kids actually like him? How do we know that he's loyal to them and they're loyal to him?"

At this Ron gave in. "Because Rosie doesn't just become friends with anyone Ginny! But I have an idea to test their friendship."

They all listened to his plan. " But what If it doesn't work?" Hermione asked, she knew her husbands' plans went so wrong at times. "Oh don't worry Mione, it'll work. Harry said. "If there's one thing our children have, its loyalty.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: If I were J.K rowling I wouldn't be writing a story about her story**

Chapter 5: professor Tearheart

The silence between them stretched until the bell signaling the start of first period broke it.

"C'mon" James said

"What are we supposed to do?" Albus was tense, James could tell. "We told him that he could come for christmas! What are mum and dad going to say." He looked at Rose and an idea seemed to dawn upon him.

"Well my mum and dad won't let him step into my house either... So don't even think about." she said knowing exactly what Albus was about to say. Well THAT idea was crushed.

"Oh. Ok. What do you think James?" Albus asked.

When James didn't answer he asked again "What do you think, James?" a bit more panicked. They were getting close to the transfiguration room. There James would leave them for potions.

"I think I'll send them a letter to them explaining the problem. You guys should do that too. Tell them what Scorpius is like. I think they think he's like his dad" he said finally

"Okay"

"Will do."

They reached Albus and Rose's classroom.

"and where do you think you two were?" an annoyed voice asked. They turned around and saw professor Pantigua glaring at Albus and Rose.

"See you guys around" James muttered to them as he sped of to potions.

As James entered the dungeon he heard professor say in rasping voice to him "Late Potter. 25 points from gryffindor!" James glared at her as did the rest of the Gryffindors.

Professor Tearheart was an old witch with a long nose which was always positioned in a way that it seemed she had something disgusting underneath it. She had almost no hair so she wore a black wig to cover up her bald spot and was always glowering at everyone. As the head of Huffelpuff house, James expected her to favor them. As it turned out, it seemed all she wanted to do was make the life of every Hogwarts student miserable. Her particular target was James. She would take points away from him even if he dropped his book in class, or even when he accidentally sneezed in the middle of a lesson. But he knew exactly why he was treated this way, it all came down to James's father. Tearheart hated anyone who was famous because she was jealous, and since James

had Harry Potter as a father, the man who killed Lord Voldemort, she did not like him one bit.

As James sat down Tearheart started speaking to the whole class. "Now before Potter came in to the class I was saying that today we will be making a Hiccuping Potion. The point of this potion is to stop the hiccups of one who has them. So get started, you have the rest of the class. "

James, Jo and Hermes started to set up their cauldrons and then started to cut their ingredients.

"Where were you?" Hermes hissed at James

"Nowhere. Just talking to Albus and Rose"

"Are your parents mad at you?" Jo asked him. Was it obvious something was wrong.

"huhn?" James pretended he hadn't heard because he was too busy cutting up the legs of his spider.

"I said, if your parents got mad at you for letting Albus be friends with Scorpius?" she said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh no their not angry" He put on a fake smile. "not yet anyway" he added under his breath.

Not thoroughly convinced Jo scanned his face. James attempted to maintain look of pure happiness but in vain. He expected he look like he had a toothache. Jo didn't seem to buy it but before she had any time to persist Hermes made an involuntary squeak.

"Shut up." he whispered nodding towards Tearheart. It was common knowledge that speaking out of turn in front of her, costed house points.

Silently the three of them continued making their own potion. As usual Jo and Hermes were having problems. At least James's potion was close to the shade of navy blue written on step 7, but poor Jo's had turned neon pink and was emitting sparks. Worst of all was Hermes's solution. It reeked of old gym socks and was turning lighter green by the minute.

"Honestly Hermes." James said acting as though the smell was about to kill him. But maybe it was. "Are you pretending to kill the whole class? By all means do it for old Tearheart but not for US." They laughed. Both siblings never minded James's jokes about their potion making skills.

"What is this" said a snappish voice over Hermes's head. Tearheart came to inspect their table, and was ready to start inspecting them. It was a habit of hers to put her nose so close to the potion that it was in danger of touching the potion while she was examining it. James doubted she would do the same ritual with Hermes's would-be Hiccuping Solution as it was about to murder him and he was siting two feet away from it. But she did. She bent so low that James heard her back crack and as she was making a mental list of all the problems with the potion, it exploded.

Right in her face.

"Detention, Mr. Longbottom!" she screeched

And this gave James a brilliant idea.


End file.
